GULF SHORES, Alabama -- Hundreds of visitors have flocked to the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo to experience the zoo's baby tiger cub encounters this fall, but some animal advocacy and environmental groups say the public handling of big cats and other exotic animals is nothing to be celebrated.

The Humane Society of the United States, the World Wildlife Fund, the Detroit Zoological Society and five other groups have petitioned the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to ban direct encounters with tigers, bears, or non-human primates. The 71-page petition (PDF) cites "an epidemic of unqualified individuals and facilities possessing dangerous wild animals, which threatens both public safety and animal welfare."

The House of Representatives is also considering a bill, H.R. 1998, that would prohibit such interactions. H.R. 1998 was referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources on May 15 and has not been put up for a vote.

Lisa Wathne, a captive wildlife specialist with the HSUS, said that because tigers can only be handled for the first few months of their life, exotic animals are bred specifically for such encounters and contribute to a surplus of the animals in smaller, "roadside" zoos and the pet trade in the United States.

"We are unequivocally opposed to using not only tiger cubs, but also lion cubs, bear cubs and primates in these public handling events," Wathne said. "We feel that it is a serious enough issue that we took the time to put together the petition, which was hundreds of hours of work, to make our case to the USDA that this practice needs to stop."

The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo is one of 75 institutions or individuals named in the petition that "have allowed visitors to come into direct contact and unsafe close contact with big cats, bears, and/or nonhuman primates in recent years." Also on the list is Tigers for Tomorrow, a preserve located near Gadsden, and ZooWorld in Panama City Beach, Fla.

Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo director Patti Hall and head keeper Cyndi Johnson contend that while there are bad actors out there, they provide good care for the tigers during the encounters, and that there is a plan for all the tigers they receive from the Marcan Tiger Preserve. Johnson said Kato and Calypso, the two cubs now at the zoo will go back to the preserve to become part of the Marcan breeding stock.

"We have very strict guidelines, as far as people coming in to see the tigers," Johnson said. "You have to sanitize before you go in, we do not allow the guests to pick them up, we do not allow the guests to feed them. We don't allow the encounters until they've had their first round of shots, so they're protected.

"It's interaction with the animals but on a very limited basis. You can't do anything you want to just because you paid for 30 minutes of time with them."

While at the zoo, the cubs have six scheduled visitor interactions per day, three in the morning and three in the afternoon. Johnson said the cubs are never left alone with visitors, who have to remain seated, wearing socks but no shoes. Johnson said that if the cubs go to sleep during the encounter, they are allowed to continue sleeping, though the visitors can still be photographed laying next to the sleeping tiger.

How does holding a tiger impact a human?

One thing everyone can agree on is that Bengal tigers are having a very rough go of it in the wild. There are more tigers captive in the United States than there are wild tigers. Wild tigers face dramatic habitat loss and are being hunted in India for their body parts, which are used in traditional Chinese medicines.

"People who are allowed to handle exotic animals are inspired to get these animals as pets," Wathne said. "They're left with this idea, the wrong idea, that tigers or bears or lions will grow into docile, friendly pets, which of course is not true."

&lt;a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/7513475/"&gt;Should the USDA allow tiger cub encounters like the one at Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo?&lt;/a&gt;

The petitioners also say that the surplus of captive-bred tigers obscures the issues facing wild tigers.

"It creates false impressions," Wathne said. "If you can go to a county fair and hold a tiger cub, how could it be that that animal is endangered in the wild?'"

Johnson counters that the zoo provides fact sheets on tiger conservation issues to its encounter guests and said people who have seen and touched the tigers up close are more likely to care about conserving them in the wild. She also said that the fact sheets include the cost of care for a tiger each month to discourage notions of pet ownership.

What do you think about the practice of tiger cub encounters? Vote in our poll on the topic and share your thoughts in the comments below.

Note: The Humane Society of the United States is primarily an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., where it promotes animal welfare laws and education. HSUS is not affiliated with local pet shelters or groups like the Baldwin County Humane Society, Greater Birmingham Humane Society or the Mobile SPCA. The HSUS operates just five direct animal care facilities across the country, mostly for wild or exotic animals.